Hogan Announces Slew Of Baltimore-Focused Efforts On Violent Crime

Gov. Larry Hogan on Tuesday announced a slew of immediate measures and emergency legislation focused on combating violent crime in Baltimore.

"Let me be crystal clear," Hogan said in a press conferences at his Baltimore office. "I have absolutely no tolerance whatsoever for these repeat violent offenders and these criminal gangs causing lawlessness in our streets."

Across the state, 10,000 people are associated with gangs, and 5,000 firearms were used in crimes last year, Hogan said. Many shooting victims in Baltimore have criminal records themselves, and 60 percent of those convicted in Baltimore on gun crimes don't serve time behind behind bars.

Immediately, Hogan said, state troopers will work with police on high-priority warrant service and patrolling high-crime areas, while U.S. marshals perform an "aggressive sweep." He's also deploying 200 parole and probation officers to track down those who have violated their terms of release.

He will also step up Project CORE, the vacant demolition program run by state housing officials and the Maryland Stadium Authority that has seen 1,200 vacant homes demolished thus fat. He said they'll work with the city to identify vacant properties in high-crime areas that are used for gang activity. Nearly three weeks ago, Detective Sean Suiter was fatally shot in a high-vacancy neighborhood in a lot where a vacant home once stood. For several days, police held a large swath of Harlem Park as a crime scene, believing he could have been hiding in the neighborhood, possibly in a vacant home.

"There are far too many violent gang members terrorizing the streets of Baltimore and we need to remove as many as we can as quickly as possible," Hogan said. "We want to give these violent criminals fewer places to hide."

He's also launching the Maryland Criminal Intelligence Network, which will connect local jurisdictions like Baltimore with 36 federal and state taskforces and will allow data-sharing and collaboration

The new legislation will force second-time violent criminals to serve their full sentence without parole, allow prosecutors to reach across county lines in gang cases and add more underlying crimes to racketeering statutes. Other legislation would make use of a handgun in a violent crime a felony that would carry 10 years in prison. Judges would be unable to suspend a portion of the sentence.

The governor on Tuesday also signed an executive order to create an executive council charged with providing leadership and strategies. It will be chaired by Carroll County State's Attorney Brian DeLeonardo and include state officials, as well as officials from Baltimore City and across the state, including Baltimore City State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby, Davis and Baltimore County State's Attorney Scott Shellenberger.